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I I I Council Meeting Minutes December 6, 1999 Page 3 Public Hearing. continued Justin asked what entails the legal services portion of the General Fund. Egan explained that legal services are basic support services provided by the City Attomey and Prosecuting Attomey. Justin asked if eminent domain costs are included in the budget. Egan said such charges are excluded from the General Fund and charged to a specifically named project fund. Benke added that eminent domain is used at last resort, and any costs are reflected back to the project cost. Justin asked ifthere would be anticipated legal fees involved with the Chenoweth property. Egan said development projects are excluded from the operating budget, and at this point the City is unsure if there would be any expenses. Benke said it depends upon the circumstance, and if it is tied to a particular redevelopment project then it would come out of that fund. Egan explained that when a Tax Increment District (TIF) is created, a budget is developed which includes preliminary information for that TIF. Benke said to the intent possible, development project costs are applied back to the development account. Justin asked what expenditures are contained in the garage budget. Egan said the garage portion contains maintenance costs, mechanics wage, equipment and vehicles, and garage operating costs. Justin asked if there is a surplus of funds due to the Army water settlement. Egan explained that the operation ofthe City's two water treatment plants was part ofthe 1988 Army settlement requiring remediation ofthe aquifer contaminated by the Army. The Army pays exclusively for operation ofthese two plants which resulted in a $10 million settlement to the City. The City has full discretion of the use of these dollars, and the Environmental Restoration Fund is part of the Army settlement. This settlement has added about $2.5 million interest earnings to the fund. Benke said the Army is obligated under the settlement to pay operating and maintenance costs as long as there is detectable contamination levels in the water. Ifthe settlement fund runs out, then the Army is required to provide additional funds until contamination levels are clear. The City may need to continue to operate these plants for many years to come, and is very cautious in how these funds are used. There were no other comments from the audience. Motion by Larson, seconded by Samuelson, to CLOSE THE TRUTH IN TAXATION PUBLIC HEARING. 5 Ayes - 0 Nayes, Motion Carried. Formal approval ofthe budget will be held December 14. Announcements and Updates Public Hearing Truth in Taxation Hearing Announcements and Updates Moore-Sykes recently attended a meeting which the Heart of the Earth School has signed NLC Conference a purchase agreement for the Salvation Army property in St. Anthony which borders New Brighton at Silver Lk. Rd. and Co. Rd. E. Also, she attended the recent National League of Cities (NLC) Conference in Los Angeles and found it extremely interesting. Samuelson also attended the conference and participated in many excellent seminars.